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Su on IAM strikeline | NLRB petitions double | Hotel strikes

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

 

MACHINISTS STRIKE at BOEING

► From the IAM:

► From the Seattle Times — Boeing layoff plan suggests deep white-collar job cuts — Not included in the plan are production and maintenance employees at Boeing South Carolina. Likewise excluded are members of the Machinists union District 751 and the Portland, Ore., Machinists unit, District W24 — although the slide stating this adds, in parentheses, “at this time.” Still, the need for the layoffs has little to do with the Machinists’ strike. It’s a restructuring by new CEO Kelly Ortberg designed to address the broader and deeper problems Boeing faces.

 

STRIKES

► From Inc.com — Seattle Hotel Workers Join Hilton Strike — “The weeklong strikes by 374 workers at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport and Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center will last until the early hours of Oct. 19,” the union said.A total of over 4,300 hotel workers are now on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels in Honolulu, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

► From CBS — Boston hotel strike expands as Omni workers join picket lines — Union members at the Omni Parker House and the Omni Boston Seaport hotels walked off the job, joining workers who went on strike earlier this month at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza and Hilton at Logan Airport. More than 1,200 union members including cooks, dishwashers, room attendants, front desk and banquet workers at the four hotels want more money, automatic daily room cleaning and jobs that were cut during the pandemic returned. Many say they can’t afford to feed their families so they’ve had to work more than one job.

 

LOCAL

► From Simple Flying — Former Delta Flight Attendant Files Lawsuit Alleging He Was Fired For Supporting Unionization — The plaintiff flight attendant was one of the “casualties of Delta’s anti-union campaign,” the lawsuit read, adding that during training, flight attendants were subjected to mandatory meetings where Delta Air Lines officials and agents had made “false, misleading, and coercive statements about AFA and otherwise spouted anti-union views.”

► From the Seattle Times — Listeria recall: What to know about recalled meat in WA — A massive nationwide recall of nearly 10 million pounds of meat due to concerns of listeria contamination is affecting some of Washington’s most popular grocery stores. As of Monday, the state Department of Health said USDA had not yet provided a distribution list, so health officials don’t know which specific retailers in Washington are impacted. The full list of recalled products is more than 300 pages long and can be found here.

Editor’s note: this article from 2020 seems relevant — 7 ways the Trump administration has deregulated the food system during the Covid-19 pandemic 

► From the Seattle Times — Seattle Public Schools plans to name schools for closure in two weeks — Rebekah Binns, a former SPS teacher and a parent at Graham Hill in Southeast Seattle, said she had to translate the information into seven languages and distribute it to families to ensure they were aware of the closure announcement.

► From the Working to Live in SW WA Podcast — What can the Clark County Council do about Housing? — Of all the challenges working people are facing these days, the lack of affordable housing may be one of the biggest. What can be done about the ever-increasing percentage of workers’ paychecks that are going towards the rent? Harold sits down with Wil Fuentes to discuss the difference between Vancouver and “unincorporated Clark County,” what’s driving the lack of affordable housing in our region, and what the Clark County Council can do to fix this growing problem.

► From the Washington State Standard — Pierce County to begin paying jurors $100 a day — Residents of Pierce County who appear for jury duty will receive $100 a day and mileage reimbursements in an attempt to improve juror participation and diversity. The pilot program, which began Monday, replaces the $10 typically paid to jurors in Pierce County. Research suggests diverse juries make better decisions as they spend more time deliberating, discuss more facts about the case, make fewer factual errors and are more willing to discuss racial bias.

► From the Spokesman Review — Spokane City Council approves proposal preventing evictions, rent increases if landlord is not registered — The new penalty for landlords out of compliance with city requirements was passed in a 5-2 vote Monday night. The law is part of the city’s attempt to get more landlords licensed and registered with the city. Since such requirements were approved last February, about 21,000 units have been registered out of approximately 40,000 rental units in the city. Under current law, landlords out of compliance can be fined, but the city wants a greater incentive for those who do not follow city code.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the AP — WNBA and players’ union closing in on opt out date for current collective bargaining agreement — The players union and league have until Nov. 1 to potentially opt out of their current collective bargaining agreement. It is likely that the players will decide to do so before the deadline as they have a list of wants, including increased salaries now that the WNBA has entered a historic 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC for $200 million a year.

 

ORGANIZING

► From the AP — Petitions for union representation doubled under Biden’s presidency, first increase since 1970s — There were 3,286 petitions filed with the government in fiscal 2024, up from 1,638 in 2021. This marks the first increase in unionization petitions during a presidential term since Gerald Ford’s administration, which ended 48 years ago. During Trump’s presidency, union petitions declined 22%.

READY FOR A VOICE AT WORK? Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!

 

NATIONAL

► From TIME — The AI Revolution Is Coming for Your Non-Union Job — America’s workers are smart. They are far more concerned about GenAI reshaping livelihoods than leaders in government and business have acknowledged so far. In a 2023 Pew Center survey, nearly two-thirds (62%) of adults say they believe GenAI will have a major impact on jobs and jobholders—mostly negative—over the next two decades.

► From the AP — Members of Congress call on companies to retain DEI programs as court cases grind on — The 49 House members, led by U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, shared their views in a letter emailed to the leaders of the Fortune 1000. The move follows several major corporations saying in recent months that they would end or curtail their DEI initiatives. “Inclusion is a core American value, and a great business practice,” the lawmakers wrote. “By embracing this value, you create safer and fairer workplaces without sacrificing quality or financial success.”

► From the Washington Post — Lufthansa fined $4 million for denying boarding to 128 Jewish passengers — U.S. authorities imposed a $4 million fine on German airline Lufthansa on Tuesday for denying boarding to 128 Jewish passengers on a flight in 2022, concluding they were discriminated against as part of the airline’s effort to handle the alleged misbehavior of some passengers. Passengers interviewed by investigators said Lufthansa denied boarding “to everyone for the apparent misbehavior of a few, because they were openly and visibly Jewish.”

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the New York Times — Harris Steps Up a Major Push for Black Voters — Ms. Harris’s blitz put forward a broad argument that her administration would deliver meaningful policy changes for Black Americans and that former President Donald J. Trump was making empty promises that contradict his history of racist remarks. “There is a very big difference between Donald Trump and how I will be president of the United States,” she said, citing his false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio and detailing her plans to cut taxes for the middle class during an appearance on The Shade Room, a digital entertainment publication with more than 29 million followers on Instagram.

► From the Washington State Standard — A clash over local control in the race to run Washington’s public schools — However, at the state Republican convention in April, where he sought and received the party’s endorsement, Olson said he’d led “the first school board in the state to ban controversial social issues like critical race theory, DEI and all that horrible stuff.” Olson later told The Seattle Times that he was caught up in the convention’s “weird environment.”

Editor’s note: the WSLC has endorsed Chris Reykdal, apparently the only candidate in this race not running off vibes.

► From the AP — Voters in California and Nevada consider ban on forced labor aimed at protecting prisoners — The measures aim to protect incarcerated people from being forced to work under the threat of punishment in the states, where it is not uncommon for prisoners to be paid less than $1 an hour to fight fires, clean prison cells, make license plates or do yard work at cemeteries. Nevada incarcerates about 10,000 people. All prisoners in the state are required to work or be in vocational training for 40 hours each week, unless they have a medical exemption. Some of them make as little as 35 cents hourly.

 

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FIND OUT HOW TO JOIN TOGETHER with your co-workers to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and a voice at work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!